National Crisis Research Articles

Crisis management and ethical expertise: The role of ethics advice during the COVID‐19 pandemic in Germany

AbstractThe COVID‐19 crisis posed challenges for policy‐makers, experts, and citizens alike. Current research often focuses on the interlinkage between scientific expertise and political decision‐making, but ethical expertise remains largely overlooked. This paper argues that multiple logics of science‐policy interaction and ethics advice exist, especially in times of crisis. It contributes to the debate on crisis management by explaining why ethical expertise is sometimes described as a technocratic development and other times as a political instrumentalization of science. We argue that these seemingly diametrically opposed claims are not necessarily a contradiction but that they can be explained by understanding the underlying logics of how ethics advice is formulated and used to advise policy‐makers. The paper focuses on the role of ethics and expertise in pandemic governance in Germany, based on an analysis of policy documents and workshops with ethical experts and members of organizations relevant to the German COVID response. The aim is to understand how epistemic and ethical claims are linked, reconstruct the underlying political and temporal logics, and identify when ethical dilemmas and controversies arise and become (in)visible. A clearer understanding of these logics is needed to improve national crisis response and governance during future crises.

신라 진평왕대 椵岑城 전투와 功勳의 逆相續

The study analyzes the background and situation of the battle of Gajamseong Fortress, which broke out in the reign of the King Jinpyeong in Silla. In addition to this, various significances of the battle focusing on the reverse inheritance of merits are presented.
 Silla lost the first battle of Gajamseong Fortress due to the lackluster performance of the three armies from three states despite the desperate efforts of Chandeok. However, in the second battle, Silla won by learning from the lessons of the previous battle and employing Haeron. The third battle also ended in a victory for Silla. The fortress is the largest disputed area between Silla and Baekje during the late reign of King Jinpyeong. In this paper, Gajamseong Fortress is considered as the area around Jeokbyeokgang River based on the data on the Bodeokguk rebellion, geographic and terrain features, the timing of the first to third battles, and the military significance.
 The Battle of Gajamseong Fortress has great significance in war, diplomacy, and military history of Silla. As a result of the patriotic sacrifices made during the battle, Silla institutionalized the reverse inheritance system for meritorious service, which became a military strategy during the unification wars of the Three Kingdoms period. The fact that the Battle reflects Silla's struggle to overcome the national crisis during the Junggo period of Silla, when it enjoyed the greatest power is of great significance.

Suffering and Spirituality in Myanmar Today: Hope amid the National Crisis

Abstract Myanmar’s citizens have been devastated by the military coup on February 1, 2021, and by the ensuing violence, destruction, and chaos. As the people are struggling to cope with the horror and suffering, Christian faith and spirituality are playing significant roles for Myanmar Christians, albeit in different ways, depending on their personal spiritual preference (temperament) and theological perspective. This article explores the four major psycho-spiritual orientations (temperaments) using a paradigm developed by Dr. Corrine Ware: head spirituality (Type 1), heart spirituality (Type 2), mystical spirituality (Type 3), and social action spirituality (Type 4). In a separate section, ‘Hope amid Suffering’, I discuss how varying theological perspectives are producing at least three different kinds of hope (in terms of content and timing): hope for deliverance now; hope for deliverance later; and hope now and later. In short, Christian faith and spirituality are functioning as indispensable sources of hope amid great suffering.

SIZING PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEM IN DUHOK PROVINCE, KURDISTAN REGION OF IRAQ

Using clean energy sources instead of traditional methods of energy production is important to tackle global warming and climate change. As in the rest cities of the Kurdistan Region and Iraq, the national electricity outage crisis continues in Duhok Governorate and the production of energy via different sources is still needed. This paper studies the simulation of two different types of solar energy systems on school roofs using the Homer Pro software. The first is a grid-connected system and the second, is an off-grid system for six different regions of Duhok Governorate, using the solar radiation data for each site. Our findings confirm the preference for on-grid PV over an off-grid PV system at all sites. As the cost of energy in USD per kWh in both grid-tied and stand-alone models varies from one region to another, which is as follows: Amedi (0.089, 0.339), Kani Masi (0.091, 0.0338), Bamarni (0.093, 0.338), Mangesh (0.095, 0.349), Semel (0.107, 0.341), and Akre (0.127, 0.347). The net present cost NPC in both grid-connected and grid-independent for 160 kW PV systems is as follows: Kani Masi ($217303, $260504), Amedi ($217621, $260710), Bamarni ($219007, $260587), Mangesh ($220167, $261239), Semel ($227566, $261222), and finally Akre ($238671, $262203).

ОСОБЛИВОСТІ СУДОВОГО ЗАХИСТУ ПРАВ СУБ’ЄКТІВ ГОСПОДАРЮВАННЯ ПРИ РОЗГЛЯДІ СПРАВ ПРО БАНКРУТСТВО

The article is devoted to the study of the peculiarities of judicial protection of the rights of economic entities during the consideration of bankruptcy cases. The choice of the topic is due to the relevance of the problem of insolvency of debtors in the light of modern views on the economic development of the country in the conditions of the global and national economic crisis. In addition, not so long ago a new legal act was introduced - the Code of Ukraine on Bankruptcy Procedures, the main purpose of which was announced to speed up court proceedings in bankruptcy cases, increase their efficiency, implement new protective mechanisms for business, so it seems appropriate to analyze the relevant legal institution in the conditions of modernization of the legislation. The article examines the definition and essence of the concept of "bankruptcy", its economic and legal nature. The currently relevant procedure for consideration of debtors' insolvency cases is studied, taking into its specifics and differences from general legal proceedings in the economic process. Attention is paid to the principle of "concentration" of all disputes within the bankruptcy case. An analysis of the national legislation on bankruptcy was carried out, taking into the adoption of the Code of Ukraine on Bankruptcy Procedures. Separate elements of such a procedure are revealed: the procedure for opening, considering and closing insolvency cases, determining the circle of main participants in such cases. The methods of protecting the rights of debtors and creditors, which can be applied by the court in the process of considering bankruptcy cases, are analyzed, for example, the possibility of introducing a moratorium by the court on the satisfaction of creditors' demands, and appeal to the court with a statement on the opening of bankruptcy proceedings was considered as one of the ways of protecting the rights of business entities.

Struggling in Crisis: The Evolution of Rainmaking in Transitional China, 1912–1949

This paper seeks to investigate China’s response to the crisis of survival in the early twentieth century through the lens of rainmaking, a ritual practice that connected with the transcendental nature of religious ideas, yet refused to be categorized primarily as Buddhism or Daoism. The time-honored ritual, straddling China’s transition from a monarchy to a republic, was enmeshed in a web of local and national crises with multiple dimensions. Its struggle for a place in the age of reason and rationality speaks volumes about the agonizing process by which the Chinese reconstructed their cultural identity in order to conform to a preconceived global narrative. Adapting rainmaking to the discourse of modernity set the stage for conflict and negotiation between the forces of social transformation and social conservation. The boundary between these forces is difficult to define, but their dynamic equilibrium shaped and reshaped the historical contour of rainmaking, illuminating the strength of China’s social inertia that could withstand the revolutionary force of a regime change.

Effects of sex and estrous cycle on intravenous oxycodone self-administration and the reinstatement of oxycodone-seeking behavior in rats.

The increasing misuse of both prescription and illicit opioids has culminated in a national healthcare crisis in the United States. Oxycodone is among the most widely prescribed and misused opioid pain relievers and has been associated with a high risk for transition to compulsive opioid use. Here, we sought to examine potential sex differences and estrous cycle-dependent effects on the reinforcing efficacy of oxycodone, as well as on stress-induced or cue-induced oxycodone-seeking behavior, using intravenous (IV) oxycodone self-administration and reinstatement procedures. In experiment 1, adult male and female Long-Evans rats were trained to self-administer 0.03 mg/kg/inf oxycodone according to a fixed-ratio 1 schedule of reinforcement in daily 2-h sessions, and a dose-response function was subsequently determined (0.003-0.03 mg/kg/inf). In experiment 2, a separate group of adult male and female Long-Evans rats were trained to self-administer 0.03 mg/kg/inf oxycodone for 8 sessions, followed by 0.01 mg/kg/inf oxycodone for 10 sessions. Responding was then extinguished, followed by sequential footshock-induced and cue-induced reinstatement tests. In the dose-response experiment, oxycodone produced a typical inverted U-shape function with 0.01 mg/kg/inf representing the maximally effective dose in both sexes. No sex differences were detected in the reinforcing efficacy of oxycodone. In the second experiment, the reinforcing effects of 0.01-0.03 mg//kg/inf oxycodone were significantly attenuated in females during proestrus/estrus as compared to metestrus/diestrus phases of the estrous cycle. Neither males nor females displayed significant footshock-induced reinstatement of oxycodone seeking, but both sexes exhibited significant cue-induced reinstatement of oxycodone seeking at magnitudes that did not differ either by sex or by estrous cycle phase. These results confirm and extend previous work suggesting that sex does not robustly influence the primary reinforcing effects of oxycodone nor the reinstatement of oxycodone-seeking behavior. However, our findings reveal for the first time that the reinforcing efficacy of IV oxycodone varies across the estrous cycle in female rats.

Centering social reproduction during crisis: women’s experiences of food insecurity in Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, and the Philippines during the COVID-19 pandemic

Studies examining the gendered impacts of COVID-19 have shown that women have been disproportionately impacted by the socio-economic effects of the pandemic across multiple areas, including economic and food security. We sought to understand how the impacts of the pandemic on women’s food security in the Indo-Pacific region were influenced by women’s roles in performing the bulk of unpaid work and care involved in social reproduction. We interviewed 183 female farmers and vendors (market stallholders) in Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, and the Philippines. We found that across all three countries examined, women described an impact on their food security as well as their labour, processes of reproduction, and private household dynamics. Women’s household food security was impacted because of decreased income, increased business costs, rising food costs, and additional household costs. Further, our findings show that because it was typically women’s responsibility to manage household food security, women were anticipating food shortages and engaging in risks to mitigate against food insecurity. These findings demonstrate the urgent need to introduce national and international crisis response measures that differentiate the gendered social and economic impacts of crises that centers, rather than marginalizes, social reproduction in analyses.

정신건강복지센터 종사자의 이직의도 영향요인

Since 2003, South Korea has been ranked first in suicide rates among OECD countries, leading to various mental health problems and causing social and national crises. Mental health welfare centers are required to respond to the crisis, but the turnover rate of workers is high. The purpose of this study is to identify the influencing factors on turnover intentions among professionals working in mental health welfare centers in order to prevent turnover and provide foundational data for performing specialized tasks. The subjects were 161 employees from mental health welfare centers in Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea. In this study, emotional labor, burnout, and job insecurity were had to significant positive (+) correlation to turnover intention. The explanatory power was turnover intention associated with these factors accounted for 35.3%. Therefore, interventions such as improvement of working environment, providing psychological counseling and intervention programs for efficient coping with emotional labor, and developing and implementing policies for employment stability are necessary to reduce turnover rates among workers.

Qualitative analysis of community pharmacy–based COVID-19 immunization service operations

BackgroundThe unprecedented coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has generated worldwide impacts while positioning community pharmacies as easily accessible immunizers to rollout the COVID-19 vaccine. ObjectivesThis study describes community pharmacists’ experiences, success stories, and lessons learned from providing COVID-19 immunization services. MethodsThis study was conducted in February to March 2022 using semistructured interviews with licensed pharmacists practicing full-time in Alabama community pharmacies. Transcribed interviews’ content analysis was conducted by 2 independent coders in ATLAS.ti software. ResultsNineteen interviews were completed. Pharmacists’ experiences in the implementation of COVID-19 immunization services are described across 4 themes: (1) on-site and off-site immunization locations, (2) roles and responsibilities of pharmacy personnel, (3) vaccine storage and administration, and (4) vaccine waste reduction and immunization uptake strategies. This study found that pharmacists’ ability to adapt is vital to maintaining their ability to offer immunization services and other services. Pharmacists’ capacity for adapting is exemplified through their ability to acclimate to becoming a primary hub of outpatient health care services, accommodating to COVID-19 social distancing and vaccine guidelines, and disseminating a novel vaccine with varying supply and demand. In addition, pharmacies gathered and maintained waitlists of patients and adopted an appointment-based model as to predict, plan, and provide for patients. Pharmacists also used reactive techniques and workflow aspects to dissuade COVID-19 vaccine waste such as in contacting interested patients on waitlists or switching to a walk-in acceptance model. The COVID-19 pandemic elicited unprecedented alterations to the legal, health care responsibilities granted to pharmacy staff with participants describing pharmacy technicians as making a considerable impact to pharmacies’ workflow. ConclusionsPharmacists stepped up as frontline providers during a time of public health emergency with their diverse experiences granting policy makers and researchers much to learn from as, in their communities, pharmacists have continued to increase access to care during a national health crisis.

Who is “the true Dane” in Modern Denmark? The Danish language within “Danishness (Dankhed)” concept

This article is dedicated to the role of the Danish Language in the Kingdom of Denmark, Faroe Islands and Greenland, in the light of Denmark’s ethnic composition changes throughout the latest 200 years. Initially, this issue was raised in the 19th century, after Denmark encountered tragic occasions: the defeat in the Napoleonic and the Second Schleswig Wars, and the dissolution of the Denmark-Norway Union. The loss of the territories led to the development of cultural, educational, and patriotic programs in Denmark, in order to overcome the comprehensive national crisis. The core question was: “Who can be considered as a Dane?” Up to 1814, there was 25 % of German population in the Denmark-Norway Union. After Norway separated, the percentage of Germans in Denmark rose up to 40 %. Then, Danish national self-identification was based on the formula: “Everyone who’s not German is Dane”, and knowledge of the Danish language became the key factor. The Danish teacher and pastor N. F. S. Grundtvig developed the concept of Danish nationality – “Danishness” (“Danskhed”). According to it, the national unity was built upon native language, common national culture and common national history. This concept is still widely acclaimed in modern Denmark. Various political parties while performing tough debates in the parliament, media and social networks, are reviving the same question: “Who is the true Dane in Denmark today?” The problem of the Danish language status is the most important for Danish society, since the number of people who migrate to Denmark and carry “alien” culture and “alien” values is constantly increasing. This article is based solely on the Danish informational sources: official websites, encyclopedias, media, discussion boards, and social networks.

AMA Backs Making Overdose Reversal Meds Accessible in Schools

AMA Backs Making Overdose Reversal Meds Accessible in Schools

Racecraft and the Indian Queen in The Temple of Love (1635)

AbstractThis essay addresses the potency of the Indian queen in early modern English dramatic culture, addressing the emergence of the figure at a moment of national crisis: during the personal rule of Charles I and in relation to the contested queenship of Henrietta Maria. Applying an intersectional critical race lens, I examine Henrietta Maria's performance of Indamora in William Davenant's The Temple of Love, arguing for the beleaguered consort's deployment of the popular Indian queen as part of her quest for legitimacy as a French and Catholic queen of England. Indian imperial women, despite alterity in race, gender and religion, were established and often esteemed in English dramatic culture and therefore represented a uniquely valuable trope for Henrietta Maria to make use of. Most significantly, I argue, the Indian queen experienced racial privileging that saw her occupy a fluid racial position enabling her to pass and perform White in early modern English drama. Critical examinations of The Temple of Love have long centred neoplatonic readings while overlooking the implications of this royal performance of a racial other by an unpopular foreign consort during the restless period of personal rule. This essay seeks to address a notable gap in readings of this remarkable Caroline court masque while shining a light on an overlooked layer of complexity in early modern racecraft.

Engaging the public: English local government organisations’ social media communications during the COVID‐19 pandemic

Communication has played a critical role during the initial response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and communicators have had a particularly difficult task in persuading different types of audience to comply with ever-changing regulations. Local government organisations play a crucial role in recontextualising the national messaging for a local audience and encouraging the public to comply with regulations.This paper investigates local government organisations’ (henceforth LGOs) engagement strategies in COVID-related posts on social media. In collaboration with LGOs in England, we examined their communication strategies on Twitter and Facebook during the second UK national lockdown of the COVID-19 pandemic in November-December 2020. Using methods from corpus-assisted discourse studies, the paper analyses the occurrence and functions of selected interactive engagement markers, in this case personal pronouns, questions and hashtags. We find that such linguistic features function to encourage engagement by (a) helping to foster relatedness through ambiguity; (b) creating autonomy-supporting communication; and (c) making messages ‘stand out’.Based on our corpus analysis, we discuss the initial response of the participating councils to our findings and outline future directions including the integration of multimodal approaches to studying the role of localised social media in national crisis management. We argue for more attention to be paid to the many local communicators who play an invaluable role in encouraging the public to comply with national measures in times of crisis.

“A Lack of Empathy:” A qualitative study of Black people seeking treatment for opioid use disorder

Racial inequities in the treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD) are an urgent and insidious issue, especially in the context of the national opioid overdose crisis. Medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) are the standard of care and indisputably reduce morbidity and mortality from OUD. However, a racial treatment gap persists, with Black patients less likely to receive MOUD when compared to white patients. In this study, we seek to evaluate the experiences of Black individuals with OUD in seeking treatment. Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with 25 participants who self-identified as Black or African-American and had been diagnosed with OUD in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Many participants described that their first experiences using buprenorphine involved using non-prescribed buprenorphine to self-manage withdrawal. Participants who had experienced buprenorphine treatment found it to be an effective treatment. Participants perceived the delivery of methadone maintenance treatment to be overly restrictive and unforgiving. The stigma of having a substance use disorder was felt to be compounded by the stigma of being a Black patient, leading to marginalization and discrimination during healthcare encounters. Participants desired compassionate, dignified, and individualized care in their OUD treatment. Given increasing rates of opioid overdoses among Black Americans and persistent disparities in treatment by race and ethnicity, our findings demonstrate the need for interventions that both promote equitable accessibility and flexible delivery of MOUD and interventions that reduce the stigma experienced by Black individuals while seeking addiction treatment.

Prevalence and risk factors of suicide and suicidal ideation in veterans who served in the British Armed Forces: a systematic review

IntroductionResearch into the factors resulting in suicide in the military veteran population has yet to reach a consensus. Available research is concentrated on a small number of countries, and there...

POLITICAL SIT-AT-HOME OR SOCIO-ECONOMIC SIT-AT-HOME IN SOUTHEAST, NIGERIA : A DEVELOPMENT CRISIS

This paper is an exploratory reconnaissance on the sit-at-home order, its related issues, experiences and inherent challenges on the people of southeast, Nigeria. The sit-at-home commandment borne out of the separationist agitations of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), foists enormous fear and anxiety that keep some people indoors and others minimally mobile, and undermines life activities in the region. This two year old precarious Mondays sit-at-home issue, kidnappings, farmers/herdsmen clashes and other forms of criminality with their attendant fatal violence and conflicts constitute sources of severe psycho- social, political and economic challenges to the south-east inhabitants. This paper dwells on the issues surrounding the political and economic effects and implications of this non-state order on the security and economy of the southeast and national development. It interrogates the divergent and critical ramifications of the sit-at-home imbroglio, its potentials as precursor of self-inflicted economic setback within the historical context of marginalization and obscurity of a people characteristic of age long industrial enterprise. Moreover, good governance sensitive to the plights and interests of the southeasterners (Ndigbo), set-up of effective community based vigilante groups to counter the order, town-hall meetings for mass orientation on ills of the order were advocated as measures out of this national development crisis.

Measurement Strategies for The Joint Commission Health Care Disparities Standard: Defining Hospital-Based Requirements—Part 1

Measurement Strategies for The Joint Commission Health Care Disparities Standard: Defining Hospital-Based Requirements—Part 1

Writings on Patriotic Theme in Chinese Autobiographical Literature of the Song Dynasty China (960-1279

After the Yuan Army invaded the Central Plain at the end of the Song Dynasty, the Song Empire was broken. Faced with the atmosphere and historical background of the national crisis, the Song scholar-official class generally set up a moral standard and value system of "taking the world as their own duty", regarded loyalty to the country and the emperor as the most righteous path, and made a political choice to consciously transform their identity from scholar-officials to military generals who would save the country from being battered. At the same time, patriotic climax and expression of personality became an inseparable unity. Take Wen tianxiang for example, their loyalty to the Song emperor and patriotism was highly unified with their personality, it has been widely praised by future generations. The outstanding scholars’ writings made a patriotic literature climax at the end of the Song Dynasty. It not only reflected the profound influence of neo-confucianism on the personality construction of the scholar-officials and literary intelligentsia in the Song Dynasty, but also accorded with the orthodox literary thought in the Late Song Dynasty. In their patriotic writings, their noble national integrity of serving the country with death, coupled with their superb talent and creative skills, endowed their works with the epic temperament of shining through the ages. Therefore, the Song scholar-officials’ patriotic writing made the Song Dynasty a highlight moment of patriotic writing in the history of Chinese literature.

Firearm injury survival is only the beginning: The impact of socioeconomic factors on unplanned readmission after injury

BackgroundFirearm trauma remain a national crisis disproportionally impacting minority populations in the United States. Risk factors leading to unplanned readmission after firearm injury remain unclear. We hypothesized that socioeconomic factors have a major impact on unplanned readmission following assault-related firearm injury. MethodsThe 2016–2019 Nationwide Readmission Database of the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project was used to identify hospital admissions in those aged >14 years with assault-related firearm injury. Multivariable analysis assessed factors associated with unplanned 90-day readmission. ResultsOver 4 years, 20,666 assault-related firearm injury admissions were identified that resulted in 2,033 injuries with subsequent 90-day unplanned readmission. Those with readmissions tended to be older (31.9 vs 30.3 years), had a drug or alcohol diagnosis at primary hospitalization (27.1% vs 24.1%), and had longer hospital stays at primary hospitalization (15.5 vs 8.1 days) [all P<0.05]. The mortality rate in the primary hospitalization was 4.5%. Primary readmission diagnoses included: complications (29.6%), infection (14.5%), mental health (4.4%), trauma (15.6%), and chronic disease (30.6%). Over half of the patients readmitted with a trauma diagnosis were coded as new trauma encounters. 10.3% of readmission diagnoses included an additional ‘initial’ firearm injury diagnosis. Independent predictors of 90-day unplanned readmission were public insurance (aOR 1.21, P = 0.008), lowest income quartile (aOR 1.23, P = 0.048), living in a larger urban region (aOR 1.49, P = 0.01), discharge requiring additional care (aOR 1.61, P < 0.001), and discharge against medical advice (aOR 2.39, P < 0.001). ConclusionsHere we present socioeconomic risk factors for unplanned readmission after assault-related firearm injury. Better understanding of this population can lead to improved outcomes, decreased readmissions, and decreased financial burden on hospitals and patients. Hospital-based violence intervention programs may use this to target mitigating intervention programs in this population.